Just Like a Dream
by obsidians
Summary: This is a yaoi romp through Ranmaverse done in the style Champagne Dreams and is dedicated to my Lemon Goddess, RichOnyx. Bisexuality now included featuring Ranmachan. Contains: Lemons, Bisexuality and Yaoi. Might not want to read if you don't like these
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Ranma ½ or its characters; Rumiko Takahashi does and I make no money from writing this story.

Ranma felt silken lips claim his own as nimble, long-slim talented fingers explored the hard planes of his chest. The confused and half asleep boy kissed those lips back and blushed when a velvety tongue parted his mouth and delved deeply inside the silken depths there. Ranma could smell clean, warm skin and felt soft hair falling around him like a tent. Although the light was dim when he opened his eyes, he noted the green eyes staring into his own and the pretty, yet masculine features inches from his own face. "Mousse!" he said in startled voice. "What are you doing in bed with me?" he asked when he realized that they were both naked in his futon.

"I came to give you what you need" Mousse said in sensuous tone of voice. "You think I've never noticed the way that you look at me when we spar together?" he asked and rubbed his cheek against Ranma's

"I've never looked at you as anything other than an enemy?" Ranma protested weakly, beet red as Mousse's knowing finger continued to stroke a tortuously pleasurable path along his chest, descending sooooo slowly down his stomach.

"Come on Ranma, I'm here because you need this. Would an enemy do that for you? Just think, all those girls are after you and not a single one to satisfy you. You need this, I need this. Just say yes and I will show you pleasures beyond your wildest dreams" he said persuasively. Ranma gasped and bit his lip when those fingers curled around his now fully erect shaft and began pumping it lightly; too lightly. It was enough to entice without allowing the release that he needed. He moaned while his cock twitched in the other boy's hand.

"But what about Shampoo?" he gasped when Mousse's long fingers touched the precum weeping from his cock and began rubbing it around the sensitive head in a lazy, circular motion.

"Shampoo won't even let me kiss her. Therefore until we marry and I commit to her, I find my pleasures where I can" he said and then leaned over and took Ranma's man nipple in his mouth. Ranma mewed when he first lightly nipped the nub and then swirled his tongue around it, following the same lazy motion that his finger was making. Once in a while, he would pause to dip his finger into the free flowing honey there and resume his sweet torture, wanting to break down Ranma's resistance.

"So you're gay?" he gasped, but didn't try to resist the mounting pleasure that the other boy was affording him.

"No, I would say that I'm bi-sexual, I could just as easily to this to your girl form. Would you prefer to be a girl while I make love to you?" he said in a teasing voice, while he lowered his head to lightly nip Ranma's other nipple. Ranma clutched at Mousse's broad back in surprise as a jolt of pleasure shot through him. "Do you want me to stop?" he asked as he kissed down Ranma's taunt stomach, stopping just short of his cock. This he gave a light lick right on the sweet spot and smiled when Ranma's hips bucked at this slight caress.

"I'm not gay!" he gasped.

"No one said you were. You are pure untapped sexuality that needs to be satisfied, that's why you accept everyone's challenges in an effort to work off your frustrations. However, I can offer you a much more satisfying alternative, which I shall take with me to the grave" he said then licked the same place again, licking his lips at the salty taste of Ranma's precum.

"Ng!" Ranma yelped at the feeling of that wicked tongue. "You won't tell anyone?" he asked in a shaky voice, his resistance almost at an end.

"I promise" Mousse said and he took Ranma's burgeoning cock in his mouth. Ranma gasped when Mousse slid his cock all the way down his throat, the hot silk of his clutching throat and lips almost drove Ranma over the edge. He marveled at the other boy's lack of gag reflexes in a distance way as a talented tongue slid along his length while the walls moved up and down him. Ranma's eyes almost rolled back in his head in ecstasy when nimble fingers rolled his balls in a teasing manner, encouraging him to spend copiously. Ranma no longer cared that Mousse was a guy, he fisted his hands into his long hair and lightly pulled, wanting him to move faster. He moaned in disappointment when he pulled away. Mousse moved up his body "now, now I want to be pleasured too" he said and then stroked him again. "Kiss me" he commanded the other martial artist. Ranma's panting lips met his own and he didn't even realize when Mousse used his other hand to undo his braid, carding his fingers through Ranma's wavy midnight locks to free them.

Ranma blushed when he felt Mousse's erection brush his thigh and tensed slightly when he pressed his cock against Ranma's then gasped when he began grinding it against his own. The feeling of the hot meatus grinding against him as phenomenal! He kissed Mousse back hungrily and ground back against his gyrating hips. Mousse smiled as Ranma took the bait and reached down to pick up the bottle of lube that he'd secreted there. He squeezed some on his fingers and then placed them against the hot seam between Ranma's bubble cheeks. Ranma tensed as a slippery finger parted his passage and started rubbing against his pleasure center. He mewed and parted his legs wider. Mousse leaned back and inserted another finger, watching pleasure flit on Ranma's face as he both pumped his fingers against Ranma's prostate while he stroked his cock in time with his busy fingers. He could feel Ranma loosening internally and started scissoring his fingers to prepare him for penetration. He smiled when Ranma almost went ballistic. Feeling he was ready, he hooked Ranma's knees over his shoulders.

Ranma felt the blunt tipped head of Mousse's cock against his entrance and gulped. "Just relax and take a deep breath, this will only hurt for a second" he said and eased himself into the tight sheath as the muscular ring parted for him. Ranma gasped as it felt like Mousse was splitting him in two! Slowly Mousse eased himself inside until his balls were hitting Ranma's perfect hairless ass and he started fucking him slowly. He moaned in an almost feral way, Ranma was so hot and tight it felt like he was castrating Mousse!

He soon couldn't prevent himself from slamming into that hot tight body and Ranma howled when each thrust hit his sweet spot. He lowered Ranma's legs from his shoulders and he lashed them around Mousse's waist, straining upward to feel Mousse penetrate him even deeper. His cock ground against Mousse's hard stomach, their combined sweat giving him a slippery ride as their tongues wrestled for dominance. Crying out, Ranma dug his blunt nails in Mousse's back and came against his stomach. "Oh Mousse!" he cried in ecstasy. That pain was just enough to tip Mousse over the edge and he came hard into Ranma's bowels with a cry of his own.

"What was that Ranma my boy?" asked his father from the futon beside his.

Ranma blushed; he realized it was all a dream and that his cock was swollen and throbbing with need. "Nothing Pops, just a strange dream" he explained.

"Involving that weird Chinese boy? I don't trust him, he's sneaky. Did you dream of some moves to defeat him permanently?" asked the happily oblivious Genma.

Ranma was glad that the darkness hid how red his face was and said "yes, but I doubt I would want to use them"

Across town, Mousse sat up on his own futon and gingerly pushed back the covers to find his pajama bottoms wet with his ejaculation. He blushed at how vivid the dream was and wondered why he was having wet dreams about Ranma; the only person Mousse lusted was Shampoo and certainly never a male.


	2. Chapter 2

Mousse

Mousse held the female Ranma up against a tree while they made love, only his voluminous robe and the distance from their nearest neighbours hid what they were doing from view. The petit redhead in his arms moaned into his shoulder to stifle her mews of pleasure when she wasn't using his lips for that. Mousse held her easily and gently by her full buttocks as he moved slowly and deeply inside her. Fearing that frantic movement would call attention to their rather taboo sex as fireworks danced above their head's, reflected in his beloved's vivid blue eyes and shiny flame bright hair. He grinned at her, amused at the folly that neither could wait for a better time.

Mousse wouldn't have thought a red sundress the best choice for a natural redhead, yet it looked adorable on her petit, curvy body; too adorable perhaps given their present situation. Ranma's toned legs were wrapped around Mousse's waist; they'd tried to do it standing up, but only achieved hilarious results with their height differences. So Mousse had simply picked her and slid into her, the front of her dress and his robe lifted out of the way for convenience. Mousse stifled his own moans, Ranma was so wet and so tight that he wanted it to last as long as possible despite the clandestine nature of their love making. She felt exquisite and he wanted her just as badly as she wanted him. Any hole on Ranma's body felt divinely perfect to Mousse

Behind them lay the remnants of a picnic that they'd eaten together and at her feet were her discarded black lace panties. It was the evening of the cherry blossom festival and they'd gone to celebrate it, only to get 'carried away'. Ranma's fault, she'd pulled off her panties and dared him to eat here right there in the park, a suggestion that he'd happily complied with. The scent of the blossoms filled his nostrils just as much as the scent of Ranma's arousal, the rough bark must have been rubbing against her back as she came for the third time, but Ranma didn't seem to care. Her pulsating walls drove Mousse over the edge and both final cries of pleasure were drowned out by the final crescendo of the fireworks, as if to provide a physical manifest of their own pinnacle. The sweating, but beatific boy lowered the small girl to the ground and shielded her with his body while she gigglingly wiggled back into her panties. Casting her a conspiratory look, he helped her pack up the picnic and held her hand as he walked her home.

Mousse sat bolt upright in bed and quickly checked to see if he had had another wet dream, he was relieved to find himself merely swollen and throbbing. With a sigh he pulled out the lube and tissues that he'd been forced to buy to 'take care of himself.' He could hardly walk around sporting a hardon in an apartment owned by two women, both of whom were superior to him.

He applied a layer of lube to his erection, shuddering slightly at the coldness and then fisted himself and rubbed his cock with long slow strokes, each one ending with a slight caress to the sensitive part under his head. To stimulated himself, he filled his head full of visions of a naked Shampoo begging him to make love to her, he added soft music and how her moans would sound while he moved in her. Nothing. His traitorous mind then supplied how Ranma had looked in his latest dream, when she'd came with the force of the gale winds on his cock. Mousse just managed to stifle his final groan when he came in a torrent into the tissues he held at the ready for that purpose. He was disgusted with himself. He, who almost never touched himself, had started relieving himself nightly in order to avoid the wet dreams he'd started having because of his 'Ranma' dreams.

These occurred nightly and sometimes they featured the male Ranma and sometimes the female Ranma. Either way, they ended with them making love. As a male, sometimes Ranma was the pitcher and Mousse the catcher and vice versa. Mousse had thrown up the first time that he'd woken up after dreaming about Ranma's cock spearing him and at the odd pleasure that he'd experienced while the shorter boy had rode him to completion. Relentless pleasure was a reoccurring theme with these dreams; he could feel everything acutely and swore he could still taste her/his juices on his lips when he awoke to his sexless reality. Their relationship had even blossomed over the course of the dreams. The male Ranma loved to spar with Mousse and got incredibly turned on afterwards; they would often end up making love hell bent for leather on a rooftop. The female Ranma brought out Mousse's more tender side, he loved to hold her in his lap and kiss her softly before they made love. This confused Mousse, the female Ranma was just as deadly as the male Ranma and he didn't like sparring against either one of them. Yet, he loved them in different ways nightly. According to the latest dream, he was going on dates with the female one. In dreams he'd taken the virginity of both. The male Ranma had been a virgin when they first made love. With the female Ranma, he wasn't sure who'd been more shocked when he his first thrust had elicited a cry of pain from her, when he'd tore her maidenhead asunder; neither even suspected she'd one.

Although it was an hour before he normally rose, Mousse decided to get up rather then risk another dream featuring the male Ranma this time. He quickly dressed. As he painstakingly brushed out his long, straight black hair, he contemplated his dreams. They made little sense. In his dreams he was a red-hot bisexual lover to both sides of the same person, yet in reality he lived as little more than a monk; his first kiss and virginity consecrated for Shampoo on their wedding night. He had had some offers before while he was in the Chinese circus; carnie people not being too picky about their choice of lovers and there had been a slight fascination with his man-into-duck thing. All of these had been turned down in honour of his pledge. Why was he having these dreams about Ranma of all people and not Shampoo? He wasn't attracted to Ranma anymore then he was other male; he was just an annoyance that barred Mousse's path to his true love. An annoyance meant to be crushed, not lusted for. The female type Ranma, he had to admit was cute, but was practically a midget by Amazon standards. She would have earned him nothing but ridicule from the other males if he had he chosen her for wife; if her tremendous fighting skills hadn't been known that is. Women were the protectors of their families, not the males and a runt of the litter like Ranma would have been chosen only out of pity by a lesser male who was desperate for a wife. He supposed both Ranmas to be attractive with their matching features and that they were fine examines of sexual beauty, but neither were what Mousse had ever desired! He loved and wanted Shampoo!

Ranma

Ranma could feel the rough bark through the fabric of her dress and the silk of Mousse's robe brushing her thighs and blushed at what they were doing. She bit her lip when Mousse's cock brushed a particularly pleasurable place inside her and stifled a gasp. His strong hands supported her bottom and made her feel almost like a real girl for once; tiny and protected. His own breathing hitched when she reached her final climax and he crushed his lips to hers as he flooded her interior with his white hot cum. She clung to him throughout the flood, the aftershocks of her orgasm causing her toes to curl. He gallantly stood in front of her while she made herself decent and helped her clean up after their picnic. He insisted on carrying the basket and held her hand with his free one. That was a thing that she loved about Mousse; he knew exactly what she was, but encouraged her to explore her feminine side. Ranma was so used to people telling her to act like a man that it was refreshing to have someone who thought nothing of it when she wanted to wear a pretty dress or hold hands in public with her boyfriend. He treated both side of Ranma like they were someone precious to him.

Ranma woke up, he expected to find himself a euphoric kiss swollen female and was relieved to find himself a male. Even if it was one as hard as a rock, he sighed and went to relieve himself, remembering to take the air freshener with him. He'd learned this trick when Akane had asked why the washroom smelled like almonds every morning. All the males have looked at Ranma and he'd gone as red as a poppy.

He closed his eyes and pictured Akane's lips wrapped around him while he stroked himself. Akane naked kneeling on the floor while her dainty hand fisted the part that she couldn't take into her mouth. Ranma moaned silently as he pictured her warm moist mouth puckered around his heavy cock while he slid into her throat and back out again. He pictured Akane's long black hair flowing to her waist, her green eyes staring up at him because she liked to watch him while she pleasured him. Akane's tightly rounded bottom peeking enticingly under her hairline, begging to be bent over and filled by his cock. Ranma got to the last part and shot silently into the handful of tissues he held. His eyes snapped open when he realized that Mousse was getting him off even when he was awake. With a silent moan of frustration, Ranma sprayed the bathroom and went back to bed wondering why a guy with so many fiancées was having wet dreams about a geeky Chinese guy.

Ranma and Mousse

"Hiya, Airen come to visit Shampoo" Shampoo called happily. Normally this announcement would send Mousse into a rage that called for Ranma's blood, but this time it just made him blush madly. Not particularly wanting to see the bizarre object his dreams, Mousse opted to sneak out the back way and return after his visit was concluded. He exited through the little-used backdoor of the Nekohanten, only to run into Ranma in the alleyway!

Both boys blushed beet red to see the other and stared in panic. "What are you doing here, Ranma?" Mousse asked in a startled voice.

Ranma could only gape at Mousse; he wasn't wearing his glasses, so he looked almost ethereally beautiful. Ranma knew what those full lips would taste like. He knew the sound Mousse made when Ranma nibbled the sensitive areas of his neck. He knew that one of his favourite things to do was to make love all day long on rainy days. He knew that he liked to trim the wild silk of his pubic hair. He knew that the scar on his left foot came from an accident when trying to spear fish in an attempt to impress Shampoo. He also knew that his favourite flavour was mango. He also knew that he wore a special aftershave that his mother distilled; it had a subtle sandalwood scent that Shampoo had once said smelled nice. He knew all these things from some dreams, yet he knew nothing about Mousse the man.

Mousse was struggling with the same thoughts while he waited for Ranma to talk. The male Ranma had slate blue eyes while the female had bright blue. They both liked bad jokes and were bottomless pits. Red was their favourite colour. Both of them cried out and clutched their lover when they came and that the female could rival Niagara Falls for wetness! That they were quick to temper and just as quick to forgive and had a streak of kindness a mile wide. That as martial artists they were unbeatable, but had trouble dealing with their softer emotions and disguised this fact with swagger and bravado.

Ranma realized that he was staring at Mousse and quickly yanked himself back to reality. "I'm-I have to talk to the old ghoul and I thought I'd look for her in the kitchen before I have to deal with Shampoo's glomping onto me" he said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Where are you going Mousse?" he asked in a softer voice.

Mousse practically collapsed at the tone that he recognized as belonging to his male lover when he felt insecure and needed reassurance. His first impulse was to hug the other boy, but didn't feel like being sent into the stratosphere via Ranma's fist. "C-chores to run" he stammered.

"You mean that you aren't even going to try to stop me from hanging out with Shampoo?" Ranma asked, cursing his dream for him being a little disappointed about this.

"N-no have fun, enjoy" Mousse said and darted away with his face flaming, hoping never see the other martial artist again. Knowing full well he would be seeing him that night in his dream.

Ranma wondered about Mousse's odd reaction to him, it had seemed just as awkward as his own. Just then a purple blur glomped onto him.

"What Airen do in alleyway? Did you see where stupid duck boy go? He take break without us say yes" she explained.

"Don't call him that!" Ranma snapped and then blushed at her startled expression.


	3. Chapter 3

A wee bit of yaoi today :)

This might be the last update until I return from holiday on the 28th. Merry Fucking Christmas and a Bah Humbug to you. Sid hates Christmas expect for her goth black Christmas tree with Halloween themed decorations.

******

Ranma moaned as he pumped his thick cock into Mousse's perfectly rounded porcelain-hued ass. The hot, wild silk of Mousse's sheath gripped him almost painfully tight while his muscular ring nipped at him, causing Ranma to groan a loud as he pounded into the other boy. Mousse was on his hands and knees before Ranma, while Ranma was draped across his back so that he could watch the rapture on his lover's face. He leaned back and gave Mousse's cheeks a hard squeeze, causing the other boy to cry out, more in surprise then pain. Ranma almost howled when this caused him to clench internally, making his narrow channel even tighter. Mousse knew that the male Ranma liked his sex a bit rough and dirty and was perfectly fine with that.

Ranma grabbed Mousse's long hair and pulled on it until his head reared back. "Did you like that?" he demanded sharply. He pounded into him even harder, each stroke causing Ranma's balls to bounce off Mousse's ass. He roughly kissed Mousse's panting lips.

"Yes!" Mousse cried out, and then groaned when Ranma reached down and started roughly stroking Mousse's own erection. He could feel Ranma's strong, calloused hand on him and bucked into it, begging for release. It was maddening; every stroke of Ranma's cock hit his prostate while his hand brought him almost painfully closer to the edge. Ranma bit Mousse's back, just enough to leave light marks without breaking the skin, while he squeezed Mousse's cock extra hard. Mousse came with a howl, his sperm jetting from him harshly into the towel that they'd placed on Ranma's futon.

Ranma smiled, but he wasn't done yet, he threw the towel out of the way. He pulled sharply out of Mousse and flipped him over. Grabbing Mousse's feet, he placed them against his chest and slammed back into his well lubricated hole, causing him to cry out sharply. Ranma pounded him as hard as he could, he could feel his balls tightening almost painfully and his breath became even more ragged as he prepared to cum. He leaned over his lover's heaving body and bit him just under his neck, then threw back his head and growled as hot jism ripped from his body to paint Mousse's abused core stark white. He collapsed forward, both bodies coated with sweat and bodily fluids. Mousse brought his arms around Ranma and held his tenderly, gently stroking the wavy, tangled locks of hair from his face. He kissed his cheek and said "you sure like it rough, thanks for leaving me some skin this time," eliciting a laugh from the out of breath boy.

Ranma leaned back a bit so that he could look into Mousse's face, Mousse stroked his cheek affectionately, perfectly content that Ranma was still sheathed within him. "Mousse, what am I to you?" Ranma asked hesitantly.

Mousse smiled at his lover "You're mine Ranma Saotome" he said.

"I am like another fiancé?" Ranma said in disappointment.

Mousse shook his head "No, I'm the boyfriend that you've chosen" he explained. He placed his hand against Ranma's cheek "you do want me as your boyfriend?" he asked.

Ranma's heart leapt "yes I do" he replied and kissed Mousse happily. Then feeling shy he asked "do you...like both sides of me?" he asked with a blush.

"I love both sides of you. I love you Ranma" Mousse told him lovingly.

Ranma felt his heart race "then why don't you ever want to go on dates with me in my true form? You only ever want to appear in public with me when I'm a girl" he said slightly hurt.

Mousse propped his head up and cuddled the confused boy close "Are you getting jealous of yourself? he teased. "I would be just as happy to take you out as a male. I was concerned about your reputation, so I thought that you preferred going out as a female. No one thinks twice about a cute girl going out with a guy. But you, Ranma attract a lot of attention. I could take you out to see a movie tonight if you want, it's early enough" he said persuasively.

Ranma felt like his face was flaming when Mousse went to purchase their tickets and then bought them a tub of popcorn to share, knowing Ranma's huge appetite. He wondered why he felt so nervous doing this as a male, when he had gone on tons of dates with Mousse as a female. He felt like everyone was whispering that Ranma Saotome, martial artist extraordinaire and possessor of no fewer then four fiancées, was gay.

Mousse could feel that Ranma felt conflicted and acted like he was a friend of Ranma's. He sat down beside him and held his hand only when the lights went out completely. Ranma looked at Mousse's calloused, soft hand in his own. Mousse winked at him. Feeling a little better, Ranma stroked his thumb against the back Mousse's hand throughout the movie. That was the only public affection that Mousse displayed to him.

Mousse went to walk Ranma home and was confused when he took his arm and pulled him into an alleyway. Ranma put his arms around the taller boy and leaned against his powerful chest. He could hear Mousse's heart start to race, he looked up "I love you too Mousse" he said out loud to someone for the first time in his life. Mousse almost took his breath away when he crushed Ranma to him and kissed him until he was giddy. Mousse's kiss electrified him and he could feel it all the way from his head to his toes. Ranma was breathing funny when Mousse finally stopped kissing him.

"I love you too Ranma. Both of you" he promised.

Mousse

Mousse sat up in bed, no longer surprised or shocked by these dreams anymore. Not that he enjoyed them, especially not the ones where he was the bitch. Yet when he pushed back the covers, he discovered that he'd cum in his sleep again. He sighed and pushed off his underwear and pajama bottoms and put them in the hamper, wildly glad that he was the one who did the laundry. He could only imagine Shampoo's reaction to discovering his sperm soaked pajamas; she would automatically think that she was the cause.

Mousse cleaned up and donned a fresh pair of pajamas; he frowned when he considered the dream. He'd definitely noticed that his dream relationship with Ranma progressing. They'd gone from causal sex, to dating exclusively (both sides now) and now they were in love. That made him wonder what other relationship landmarks Mousse would be forced to witness. He blushed as he speculated and promised himself to avoid Ranma in the future at all costs.

Ranma

Mousse wasn't the only one who had a wet dream this time, the sex had been particularly hot in their shared dream; not the either one would admit it. Ranma growled in frustration and picked up his bathing stuff.

"Where are you going?" his father asked from the next futon.

"To take a bath, I'm sweating a lot tonight" he snapped, blushing in the dark and stalked off after wrapping a robe tightly around himself. Muttering to himself, he stripped off his soiled underwear and buried it as deeply down in the hamper as he could. Vowing the he was going to volunteer for laundry duty on wash day.

While he scrubbed himself after tipping a bucket over his head, he considered Mousse, not the dream Mousse, but the real, everyday Mousse. He was attractive he realized with a blush. He looked every bit as good as dream Mousse, his beauty was normally hidden by thick glasses and baggy clothes. His voice, when he wasn't whining about Shampoo was, well, sexy. Ranma wondered if Shampoo realized this and felt slightly jealous that she might. Ranma mentally slapped himself for this. He didn't like Mousse or any other male!

He felt like the dreams were manipulating him somehow, playing with his brain and forcing him to consider possibilities that he never had before, other types of love. In his dreams he was in love with Mousse, yet in reality he hadn't seen him since that time out back the Nekohanten, it was like the other martial artist was avoiding him. He doubted that Mousse was to blame in any of this and also doubted that it had anything to do with Cologne or Shampoo. If they were magicking Ranma again, the focus of the dreams would be Shampoo, not Mousse.

Still, the dreams did seem to have something to do with Mousse. Ranma washed himself and vowed that he would speak to Mousse about the dreams. Then he blushed 'how the hell do you tell someone you're having erotic dreams about them?' Ranma questioned himself 'especially if they're another man?'


	4. Chapter 4

Mousse smiled encouragingly at the small redheaded girl sitting beside him. She looked like she was going to her execution rather then a for a doctors visit, she gripped his hand so tightly that it was almost painful. "It'll be okay, women all over the world have these once a year and live to tell about it" he soothed. "Besides we looked it up online and you already know what to expect" he said stroking her hand.

"It's the speculum thing that's freaking me out" she explained nervously. Mousse smiled that the fearless martial artist was scared about anything other than cats and gave her death gripping hand a squeeze.

"You don't have to do this, we can leave" he suggested.

She shook her head, "no you're right that I should find whether I can get pregnant or not. For birth control purposes and just in case we want to...." she said and blushed when she realized what she had just implied.

"I don't see why you couldn't; a Jusenkyo curse is very complete. As a duck, I am a whole duck" Mousse pointed out.

"Who wears glasses, has your bangs and can still pull weapons out of nowhere?" she teased.

"Okay, I'm a unique duck" he replied. However, you're a complete woman. You had a hymen, you have all the correct plumbing and pleasure centers and certainly feel like a regular girl to me" he assured her, causing her to blush. "You would probably even get your period if you lived as a woman, though I'd hate to see you on PMS, you're deadly enough as it is" he teased her and she hit his arm lightly.

"Ranma Saotome?" the nurse called and looked slightly confused when a girl answered the masculine sounding name.

Ranma sat through the exam a little mystified, she blushed when the doctor, who was a friend of Dr. Tofu's and had already been appraised of Ranma's 'unique condition,' showed Ranma how to do a breast exam. She checked her weight, blood pressure and then had Ranma lie down to put the speculum in. She almost trembled with fear as it was inserted, but then relaxed. She had to admit that it was a tad uncomfortable to be pried open this way but not worthy of the fear she'd just experienced. She prayed that it would be over soon as the pap smear was taken and then the speculum gently removed.

The doctor instructed her to get dressed and join her in her office.

"Well, I was rather skeptical when Dr. Tofu told me about your unique condition, but according to your chart, you are normally a male. Everything appears to be normal, your eggs are fine and you appear to be healthy" she said.

Ranma sat forward, pink staining her cheeks "can I conceive?" she asked in a hushed tone of voice.

The doctor seemed kind of startled that a sixteen year old girl was concerned about this "I don't see why not, you're a healthy young woman through and through. I can refer you to a fertility clinic for further testing if you're worried about that. Are you and your.....partner trying right now?" she asked.

"No, no we were just wondering if it was possible. You know, for the future" Ranma explained hastily.

The doctor looked at her shrewdly "you'd have to research how your curse affects your ability to carry a child to term, but from what I see, you should be able to"

Ranma felt giddy and hugged the doctor while thanking her profusely. Then ran into the waiting room to fling herself upon Mousse, he laughingly hugged her back.

"Good news?" he asked the girl sitting in his lap.

"It sounds like we can have children!" she said enthusiastically.

"Oh are we planning on doing that?" he teased her. "I don't recall mentioning that I wanted any"

Ranma's face fell "so don't plan on staying with me?" she asked sadly.

Mousse hugged her again" of course I am, I'm in this for the long haul" he promised and took her hand to lead her out of the doctor's office. Ranma glowed as they left.

"Where are we going?" she asked when she tried to pull him in the direction of his place.

"To buy condoms now that we know that we need them" Mousse replied. He noticed Ranma's face, turned around and took her hands, "We'll have children when we're ready. I don't believe in having children outside of wedlock, we can plan for them after we marry" he explained.

Her eyes softened "you plan to marry me?" she asked in a happy voice.

"If you'll have me" Mousse replied and kissed her right in the busy street of Nerima.

Ranma woke up, not hard or experiencing the aftermath of a wet dream for once, but still no happier for it. For once this dream wasn't about sex, but somehow it was more disturbing in the respect that it dealt this a matter that he had always secretly wondered about. Not that he would ever admit it to anyone. What if he could conceive and carry a child to term? What sort of a man does that make him if he could bear children? It shattered Ranma's self perception completely, especially about how joyful he had been about the idea of having Mousse's baby in the dream. Where the hell was Mousse? He needed to speak with him about this, but couldn't seem to find him anyplace that he'd looked.

Flashback

Ranma bit the bullet and knocked on the apartment door over the Nekohanten after the restaurant had closed. Shampoo answered and glomped onto him.

"Hiya, Airen come see me?" she asked happily.

"N-no, I was wondering if Mousse is in" Ranma stammered.

"Why you want see Mousse?" Shampoo asked confused. They certainly didn't seem to be friends and Ranma had never sought him out.

"I just had some questions for him" Ranma replied with a blush as to what those questions pertained to.

Shampoo studied Ranma, wondering why he appeared to be blushing, then nodded. "Mousse in his room, come, I show" she said and then called up the stairs "Mousse Shampoo's Airen come see you" This caused Mousse, who'd been avoiding Ranma, to panic. He shot a chain up to hook around the large, exposed beam in his room, swung out the window and quickly climbed down the side of the building to scurry off into the night, seconds before Shampoo pushed open the door to his room. Shampoo looked surprised to find his room empty "That funny, thought Mousse up here" she said in confusion.

Noticing the open window, Ranma strode to it and discovered the chain hanging out of it and realized how Mousse had left. He wondered again why Mousse seemed to be avoiding him. "Might he have gone to visit a friend?" he inquired.

"He have no friends, Mousse normally stay in in evenings" Shampoo replied.

"Does he have a girlfriend?" Ranma asked feeling oddly disturbed by that idea.

Shampoo started laughing "Mousse, a girlfriend. Shampoo wishes! Then he no bother me anymore, Mu family mates for life" she explained. "He only go library or teach Japanese new Chinese residents on Thursdays at Chinese community center" she offered.

"Every Thursday?" Ranma asked, seizing onto this fact clinging to it like a junkyard dog.

"Yes, every Thursday" Shampoo agreed.

Ranma paused in his speculations "good to know" he replied.

End Flashback

Mousse turned pale when Ranma joined his volunteer language class. He'd just greeted his usual students when the martial artist walked in like he owned the place, with a smug smile on his face that seemed to say 'gotcha'

"Ranma, this class is for people learning to speak Japanese; not for people who are Japanese" he snapped.

"Aw come on Mousse, I'm sure I can use the practice" he said taking a seat beside an attractive Chinese girl named Yung Ping. He smiled at her and she blushed.

"Let him stay" she implored Mousse in Mandarin. Mousse gnashed his teeth but taught his class as normal, ignoring Ranma as much as possible. After the class was over and Yung Ping blushingly gave Ranma her number and ran away giggling, Mousse approached Ranma.

"What do you want Ranma? I don't appreciate you mocking my class, these people are here to learn Japanese so that they can learn to fit into a society that's foreign to them and get jobs" he hissed.

"Whoa, that wasn't my intention. I think that you're doing wonderful thing here and I applaud that you're so generous with your time, Professor Mu. I only came here because you've been avoiding me and I need to talk to you" Ranma explained. "Look can I take you for some tea afterwards?"

Mousse looked at Ranma to see if he was serious, he appeared to be "very well, but only for a little while" he said hesitatingly.

"That's great!" Ranma said with more enthusiasm then he'd intended. Mousse just looked suspicious at his exuberance, but took him to a small Chinese restaurant nearby and ordered them a pot of tea.

"What's this all about?" he asked sharply.

Ranma blushed and rubbed the back of his head "well, I'm having these dreams" he answered hesitantly and wondered why Mousse turned pale.

"What sort of dreams?" he demanded.

"Well, they're rather.....sexy" Ranma explained turning the colour of a beet and then noticed that Mousse echoed his new skin tone. "They are about you and me" he admitted.

"I-see" Mousse said numbly. "In these dreams are you a girl or a boy?"

"Sometimes one sometimes the other, the dream were rather erotic...until the other night when they became more....personal, relationship wise" Ranma stammered.

"Where you had a physical examination to see if you could conceive as a woman?" Mousse said looking at him levelly.

"You're having them too!" Ranma said in a startled voice.

"Yes, what do they mean?" Mousse demanded.

"I thought you would know!" Ranma said.

"How would I know? The person you dreamed about sure wasn't me, I have no interest in males and haven't ever even kissed a girl" Mousse declared.

"So you don't know why I'm dreaming about you?" Ranma asked. Wondering how they could make them stop. "I find the dreams to be very disturbing"

"You think that I'm enjoying them!" Mousse exclaimed. "Having dreams about making love to my worst enemy is hardly the joy of my life"

Ranma looked hurt "what have I ever done to you personally to make you my enemy?" he asked.

"You stand in the way of my happiness" Mousse said, wondering why Ranma cared what he thought.

"That wasn't my fault! My father and I misunderstood the situation and have had crazy Amazons following us ever since!" Ranma said and then realized he'd said the wrong thing.

"Crazy Amazons huh? Allow me to get rid of one of them for you right now" Mousse said and went to stand up.

"I'm sorry, please stay" Ranma said placing his hand on his shoulder to stop him. Suddenly it was as if he could see into Mousse's very soul. Ranma started repeating what he was seeing "you have three sisters all of whom look like you. Your eleven year old sister, Aftershave is your favourite, even though she's the mouthiest one who always embarrasses you. You're a virgin, the only vaguely sexual experience you've ever had was when you played doctor with Shampoo when you were six years old. But Cologne caught you and had you caned in front of the entire village to punish you while Shampoo got off scot free. You still have stripes on your back from that day. But why would she have done that? You were just a child and that was a punishment reserved for adult males" Ranma said wonderingly.

Something flashed in Mousse's eyes, he felt like Ranma had stripped him naked "I was an unruly male that had to be put in my place" Mousse replied bitterly, remembering that day; the fear, the pain.

"You're mother renounced her status as an Amazon and went into exile to become a farmer on the outskirts of your village after that happened. She hates Cologne for doing that to you and to this day, thinks that Shampoo's a spoiled brat because she blamed it on you. You moved into your old family hut when you were fourteen and resumed your own Amazon status when you became of age, so that you could pursue Shampoo. But why? She didn't like you and no one else likes her" Ranma asked him, seeing all that Mousse tried to hide from everyone.

Mousse answered Ranma by telling him what he saw; their touching had opened some sort of window to the other person. Now it was his turn to strip Ranma bare "You hate this place and these people and long to leave here. You feel hunted and hate being challenged all the time. You're sick of everyone making your decisions for you without asking your opinion. You don't like any of your fiancées, you're sick of being groped and viewed as a trophy by them and you wonder if any of them actually care about you. Yet you're afraid to let anyone close, in case they think that the real you is a joke and you use swagger and bravado to disguise this. You're sick of your father always telling you to be so manly when you obviously can't always be and feel that your mother should love you no matter what you're like physically. You're especially hurt that the few true childhood friends you had have betrayed you, one by becoming your enemy and one by claiming to be yet another scheming fiancée. You're confused by Akane the most because it seems like one second she likes you and the next she hates you. You resent that the dojo, which is your birthright, is only available to you if you enter into a marriage of convenience. You want to be loved but by someone of your own choosing, not someone who people tell you that you should. Ranma I'm sorry, I had no idea you felt this way" Mousse said with sympathy.

Ranma's eyes grew wide, with every word that Mousse had uttered, it was like a part of him that he didn't want seen was slowly revealed. He just stared into the other boy's soft gaze and ran away. This time it was Mousse chasing him and cornering him before he could jump onto a roof. "Leave me alone" he snapped at him.

Mousse held up his hands in a placating gesture "Ranma there's nothing wrong with feeling like that once in a while. It's normal"

"Yeah right, you're not the one that everyone expects to be perfect all the time. My family, friends and fiancées always expect me to be something I can't deliver!" Ranma cried.

"At least you have friends" Mousse said, revealing his own loneliness.

Ranma took a step closer to Mousse "I'd like to be your friend" he said, blushing as he said this.

"I'd like that" Mousse said.

"Shall we call a truce then?" Ranma asked extending his hand.

"I agree" he said. "So what shall we do about the dreams?"

"Just wait until they go away" Ranma said. Then wanting to know how accurate the dreams were he asked "would you show me your left foot?"

Mousse thought the request a little odd, but slid it out of his slipper and showed it to Ranma.

Ranma wanted to see if the scar really there; it was. "You got that from trying a spear a fish to impress Shampoo" he stated.

"How did you know that? I speared my own foot" Mousse explained with a blush.

"Must have dreamed it" Ranma said ironically.


	5. Chapter 5

Ranma rode Mousse tantalizingly slow for once, still playing the game of teasing and denial that he'd been playing for hours. Mischief highlighted his boyish features as he sped up just enough to provide the relief that his lover so badly sought, only to be thwarted by his pausing when Mousse was on the brink again. With a growl of frustration and a surge of the strong body beneath him, Ranma found himself flipped over with Mousse still firmly seated in him. Now it was Mousse's turn to smirk as he battered himself into Ranma's body until he came with a howl. The ends of his hair damp, he leaned over and took Ranma's cock in his hand and pumped it until Ranma's essence spray all over his taunt belly. Which Mousse lapped up with his silken tongue, causing the spent boy to smile lazily and stroke his tangled hair while he cleaned every drop from him.

"You're such a brat for making me wait like that" Mousse commented when he leaned back.

"You loved it" Ranma answered stroking his chest.

"Well naturally, but still I don't really want to marry a brat" he teased.

"You never even asked me" Ranma said somewhat impatiently.

Mousse cocked his head "rather hard to figure out what sort of ring to get when you have two sizes of fingers" he purred.

Ranma's heart lurched in his chest "you're planning to buy me a ring?" Ranma said in a shocked tone of voice.

Mousse rolled his eyes "well naturally, I thought an engagement wasn't official until the girl received a ring. I can hardly challenge you to a marriage battle like at home; you always beat the pants off of me" he pointed out.

"Then ask me!" Ranma demanded. "Worry about the ring later" he said impatiently.

"My my how did I hook up with someone so demanding?" Mousse teased.

"Just say the words" coaxed Ranma.

"Oh okay, would you Ranma Saotome, possessor of two of the best bodies I've ever seen, do me the honour of becoming my spouse?" Mousse said tenderly.

"Yes!" Ranma said and covered him with kisses.

Ranma

Ranma sat up in bed; he was annoyingly hard and went to take care of himself. So apparently his dream relationship with Mousse had progressed to an engagement. 'How the hell would that work?' he mused. Mousse would probably be the husband and Ranma the wife while in girl form, meaning that Ranma would be the other husband while in boy form. Ranma speculated on the dynamics of this relationship until his head hurt. Then he pictured them having to explain it to children, dark hair with green eyes Ranma decided, some with wavy hair and some with straight. Ranma then blushed for how in-depth his musing was getting and went back to bed.

Mousse

Mousse sat up and relieved himself too. However he found himself laughing at how girlishly happy Ranma got in his dream. Now that they'd gotten around to discussing them, the dreams didn't really bother them so much. They now realized that this phenomenon came from another source and not from repressed desire for the other martial artist. They'd become friends and even started hanging out together, enjoying the other's company. Ranma was cute with a nice sense of humour. He'd started meeting Mousse at the library and picking him after his class.

One of Mousse's students was an otaku with tons of old computers and who'd insisted on giving Mousse an old laptop that piggybacked on his neighbour's wifi connection. Mousse fired it up and sent Ranma the message "The wedding's off; your legs are too hairy"

Ranma laughed when he got it texted to his cell phone and sent back "Sorry pretty boy, you'd right, you'd look stupid in a wedding gown and veil"

The Nekohanten

Mousse was called upon to be a waiter as they had had an unusually busy day. It was just winding down when Yung Ping came in and pulled him aside.

"Hello Sempai, I wanted thank you for your help learning Japanese. Thanks to Mousse I found job as a hostess in upscale restaurant. Before that, I could only find work as cashier in grocery store. Better job, more money and more respect" she said giving the stunned Mousse a hug, as the gorgeous young woman had never come to see him at the café before. They weren't the only ones watching this exchange with dismay, Shampoo and Cologne's eyes were even larger than usual from watching a pretty girl hugging Mousse.

"No problem Yung Ping, I'm glad I could help. You should be thanking yourself about how easily you learn other languages" Mousse said blushingly.

Yung Ping laughed "you're right, I learn Russian tomorrow and Swedish next day" she teased him and then handed him a bento box. "I make you rice balls stuffed with spicy meat to thank you. Perhaps you share them with your boyfriend?" she asked.

Mousse turned pale "I think you got the word wrong, don't you mean friend?" he asked in a strangled voice.

Yung Ping tried to think if she had the Japanese word wrong "I mean Ranma, the one who normally meets you after class. Nice guy, sorry I flirt with him, not know you're together" she said conversationally. "You know, your koi (lover), I can tell from how you look at each other. Mother wants to invite you to dinner to thank you for my new job, Ranma invited too. It fine, we very progressive family, my older brother also have koi who everyone call Uncle Chueng. Also nice guy" she said.

"Actually we're just friends, Ranma's Jusenkyo cursed like me" Mousse explained.

"Oh really, which one?" Yung Ping inquired.

"The spring of the drowned young girl" Mousse replied.

"No kidding, we had one of those in our village. He married a man and stayed trapped in female form when pregnant, it was a funny situation but seemed to work for them" she said. Mousse was just about to ask for more details when Shampoo joined them

"Mousse, who this?" she asked.

Mousse managed to wrench himself back to reality "Shampoo this is Yung Ping, she's one of my students. She just got some good news and came to drop off a gift for me" he explained.

"So nice you get along well with students" Shampoo commented, staring at the other girl suspiciously. Yung Ping just stared back; she'd heard rumours about the future Amazon leader; none of them were very flattering. Most of them rhymed with witch.

"Well, I must go. Have to buy new clothes for new job. Nice to meet you Shampoo" Yung Ping said in an insincere tone of voice, deliberately snubbing her. "We talk in class and decide when your koi and you come to dinner" she said to Mousse on leaving.

Shampoo glared daggers after the pretty female and then turned to Mousse "What a koi?" she demanded.

Mousse blushed bright red at what it actually meant and hastily said "it's a type of fish"

Shampoo just looked suspicious at this. They were interrupted when Ranma joined them.

"Hey Mousse" he said giving him a slap on the shoulder, causing Mousse to blush at what his students thought that their relationship actually was. Ranma's eyes lit on the bento box in Mousse's hands. He grabbed it from him and opened it up.

"Rice balls, they look good. Can I have one?" Ranma asked.

"Sure go for it" Mousse replied feeling overwhelmed.

The Next Day

Ranma was in so much pain that he had to use an old stick as a crutch after sparring all afternoon. He was exhausted, all he wanted to do was lie down and sleep, but something kept driving him forward to a place he felt he should be. His eyes widened in surprise when he realized that he was outside the apartment door of the Nekohanten, not even thinking he rang the doorbell. The door opened, revealing a familiar white robe, just then he lost consciousness and fell forward, he felt strong arms catch him.

Mousse looked with concern at the unconscious boy in his arms; he picked him up bridal style and carried him upstairs to set him on his futon. He examined him, Ranma had cuts and bruises all over his face and his clothes were dirty and torn. Mousse deduced correctly that Ranma was in a multi-person fight, he removed his shirt to check for injuries. Finding just other scrapes and bruises, he went and got his first aid kit.

Ranma eyes opened when he felt a cool cloth bathing his wounds and soft gauze being affixed to them. His eyes widened in surprise when he realized that it was Mousse. "Mousse what are you doing here?" he asked in startled voice, not remembering that he'd felt compelled to come here.

"I live here, you came to me" he answered in an amused voice. "You can relax, I'm here alone; Shampoo and Cologne have gone to attend a Chinese festival in the next town over" he explained. "Now would you care to tell me why you were battling against Ryoga, Kuno and Akane?" he asked him.

"How did you know?" Ranma asked.

"The lumps on your head match Kuno's bokken, the bruises on your chest Ryoga's parasol and finally the large mark on your forehead, Akane's mallet" Mousse said.

"Nicely done Sherlock. I was walking Akane to school when she tripped and I caught her. Ryoga thought I was getting fresh and challenged me, while Kuno did at the same time. A battle ensued that went on for hours with Akane trailing after us, when I tried to push her out of the way, I accidently put my hand on her breast and then she malleted me. The next thing I know I was here" Ranma explained.

"You really are a victim of circumstance" Mousse said in amusement.

"Thanks Mousse, I should get going" Ranma said and started to stand up stiffly. Mousse pushed him back.

"Get some rest for a few hours and then go home" he ordered. Noticing how fatigued the other boy looked, Mousse asked "do you always get this tired after sparring?"

"Yes, I normally go home and rest. I'm not immortal you know" he pointed out.

"Sometimes you seem like you have superhuman strength" Mousse mused.

"It's good for my image" Ranma explained, then drifted off to the familiar dream smells of mango shampoo and conditioner and sandalwood aftershave. Mousse picked up Ranma's shirt and went to wash it, then took out his sewing kit and mended the large hole over the right breast.

Ranma woke to find Mousse hovering over him, getting confused with his dreams he grabbed him and started kissing him. Mousse was so startled that he returned Ranma's kiss for a few seconds and then pulled away sharply. Acutely aware that he was as hard as a rock, he involuntarily glanced down to see that Ranma was sporting a tent too and looked away. "I'm sorry Mousse, I got confused" Ranma said in a startled way.

Mousse pulled himself together, "its okay, I was just wanting to know if you were staying for dinner" he assured him.

"Sure" he said sitting up. "Where's my shirt?" he asked.

"Right here, I repaired it as best as I could" Mousse said.

Ranma frowned at the well mended stitches "well, looks like I need to get another shirt" he commented.

"Actually if you embroider a pair of dragons on either side, the repair job won't even show" Mousse said.

"I don't have that talent" Ranma stated.

"I could do it! I've won awards for my embroidery skills" Mousse said enthusiastically and then blushed. "I guess that's not something to brag about in Japan, but where I'm from, its considered to be a desirable trait" he explained.

"You would be willing to do that for me?" Ranma asked.

"Sure, dragons should be masculine enough. Unless you prefer horses?" he said facetiously.

"Is that a crack about my name meaning 'wild horse'?" Ranma asked.

"Yes" Mousse said. Ranma got redressed and met Mousse downstairs. He watched him silently for a minute. Mousse was stirring Ramen and singing a Chinese song softly to himself. Normally Ranma thought that men who exhibited female tendencies to be weird, but on Mousse, they seemed entirely natural. He smiled when he saw Ranma. Ranma felt like he was in a dream again as he joined him for dinner.

A Few Days Later

Shampoo returned from the festival to find Mousse embroidering a red Chinese shirt while watching TV. He seemed oddly happy as he expertly and painstakingly embroidered a pair of matching Chinese dragons on the breasts and facetiously added two tiny horses on either side of the collar.

"Who you embroider shirt for?" Shampoo asked.

Mousse blushed "just a friend" he said.

Shampoo watched his handiwork "you do good work, forgot how skilled you are. Could you embroider flower on Shampoo's plain pink satin skirt?" she asked.

"Sure, I'd love to!" Mousse said enthusiastically.

"Great Airen will love new, improved skirt, is so short and tight already" she said.

Mousse felt his heart plummet "you never will love me, will you Shampoo?" he asked in an anguished voice.

Shampoo looked at him almost pityingly "no, Mousse is only friend, will always be this way" she said honestly. "Where Mousse go?" she asked when he turned to leave.

"I'm going back to China, things are too crazy here and I need to get away for a while" he replied.

"When you come back?" Shampoo asked.

"I don't know" Mousse replied and went upstairs to pack.

Mousse dropped off his luggage to be shipped to China and then stopped by the Tendo residence. "Hello Kasumi is Ranma in?" he asked the polite girl.

"He's gone to get groceries with Akane" Kasumi explained.

Mousse felt a twinge of disappointment and then handed her the package he was carrying "could you please make sure he gets this?" Mousse requested.

"Of course Mu-san, I would be glad to. Is there any message?" she asked.

"Yes could you please tell him that I'm going home and I don't know when I'm coming back" Mousse said.

"To China?" she asked.

"Yes" Mousse replied.

He said his goodbyes then went to the nearest alleyway and poured a flask of cold water over his head. After the duck tucked his robe wherever he does when Mousse is in duck form, he spread his wings and flew into the room where Ranma slept. Taking a knife that he knew that Ranma would recognize as belonging to Mousse, he flung it so that it embedded itself into the ceiling over his futon. His final goodbyes said. He flew out the window towards China, his heart heavy and already missing his only friend.


	6. Chapter 6

Ranma

Ranma got back to the Tendo residence hauling bags of groceries. Kasumi presented him with a cloth wrapped bundle; he tore it open to find his newly embroidered shirt. His mouth went dry at the craftsmanship that the other boy had lovingly invested into the garment. He ran his fingers lightly down the elaborately stitched dragons and tiny horses, unaware of the rapture in his face as he did this. Akane broke his reverie when she said "that's beautiful, who did it?"

Ranma blushed like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar and said "Mousse, I ripped my shirt and he offered to embroider it for me to mask the tear it in" he explained.

"Since when are you and Mousse friends?" Akane asked.

"It's a recent thing, listen I should go over to the Nekohanten and thank him personally" Ranma said.

"Sorry Ranma, he went back to China" Kasumi said.

"What, he never told me that he was going there! What did he say?" Ranma demanded, seizing her shoulders

The gentle Kasumi shrank from his vehemence "he said that things were too crazy for him here and he needed to get away" she explained.

"Did he leave a note for me?" Ranma demanded, giving her a shake, causing Kasumi to gasp.

"Release Kasumi right now!" Akane demanded. "What the hell's wrong with you? One less enemy of yours in Nerima's a good thing" she pointed out.

Ranma realized what he was doing and let her go "I'm sorry Kasumi" he hastily said and then ran out of the house to the Nekohanten and began frantically ringing the doorbell.

Shampoo answered the door "Oh good, Airen come for date with Shampoo?" she said happily and went to glomp onto Ranma. She gasped in surprise when he shoved her back before she could touch him.

Her eyes went wide with shock as she stared into Ranma's own stormy blue eyes "where's Mousse?" he demanded of the surprised girl.

"H-he go back to China, left hours ago. I think he fly as duck" she stammered, wondering the cause of Ranma's anger.

"What did you do to make him go?" he demanded narrowing his eyes at her.

"Shampoo innocent, not know why Mousse left. He been weird lately, not even act like himself. He not declare love for Shampoo for weeks" she explained.

"You don't even deserve him" Ranma snarled.

Shampoo's head swam with confusion "what Airen mean by that?" she asked.

Ranma thrust his face into hers "you will cease to call me that; I'm not married to you and never shall be. You're nothing to me. Do you understand?" he hissed. Then he shook her "do you understand?" he repeated in a dangerous tone of voice.

Shampoo gulped "yes, I understand" she said, suddenly frightened of him. Seeing her fear, Ranma thrust her away from him in disgust and ran back to the Tendo house. He ran into his room, locked the door and threw himself on his futon, hugging the embroidered shirt to him. He placed his nose against the embroidery; he could just make out the scent of Mousse's skin and it helped to calm him.

Akane knocked on the door "Ranma, what's wrong?" she inquired.

"Go away" Ranma yelled back, wondering why his chest felt tight, he wasn't aware that hot tears were streaming down in his cheeks. He lay back on his futon and looked up at the ceiling, he faltered when he saw a red tasseled knife embedded into it. He leaned up and pulled it out, finding a note attached to the blade. He unrolled it, it read.

Dear Ranma,

I have to get away from here for a while.

I've found myself confused about a lot to things lately and need to get my head on straight.

I'll miss you as I honestly think that you're the only real friend I've ever had.

I wish you every joy in life.

Mu Tzu

Ranma laughed bitterly that is was so impersonal and definite; so many things left unsaid between them. Then he got angry that Mousse would rather leave then deal with him and resolved that he would find him. He knew where his godforsaken flyspeck of a village was! Mousse hadn't heard the last of Ranma Saotome! 'But how to get there?' Ranma wondered; he didn't have any money. Then he remembered how he got to China the last time, swimming. He wondered if his weaker feminine body could survive the trip and decided to chance it. He packed and went to bed, resolving to leave first thing in the morning.

Mousse

Mousse flew directly to his mother's house and his tired duck body was mobbed by his sisters, who'd missed him horribly. He returned their enthusiastic hugs with his own feathered limbs and quaked out exclamations about how tall they were getting and how pretty they all looked. This was understood by none of them, but they still were happy to see their brother after a year's absence. His mother smiled to see her brood all together again. She waited until their excitement at being reunited died down, before she led her modest son into another room and provided him with hot water so that he could transform in privacy.

Mu Tao Lee

Mu Tzu's mother, Mu Tao Lee was only thirty two years old, despite having four children. In the tradition of the Amazon, her children took her last name. She, herself married young at sixteen years old, Mu Tzu being the reason for this hasty marriage. She didn't mind this though, she'd always known that she would marry his father and didn't see the need to wait. People had ridiculed her for having a son, but she hadn't care, she loved Mu Tzu to distraction. It'd made her sad when he'd gotten involved with and become obsessed with a girl that she thought unworthy of him. She had had to watch him lick his wounds time and time again over her and wished she could help; no mother likes to see her child in pain.

She watched this happy family gathering with the now human Mu Tzu and sensed a sadness in him that she'd never felt before. She suspected that it had nothing to do with Shampoo playing fast and loose with his heart for once and resolved to get to the bottom of it. Throughout the entire visit, he never mentioned Shampoo's name once.

Mousse

After leaving his mother's Mousse walked back to his hut, it was large for just one person, but then it had been meant for a family of six when his father built it all those years ago. Mousse had been born in it and drew his first breath on the original futon. The futon there now had been sew by his mother and was large and thickly padded, perhaps in hopes that he would share it with a wife someday. Contrary to popular belief, their tribe wasn't as primitive as it appeared. The outside looked like a regular hut for tourists, but the inside held a modern kitchen, running water and electricity that was generate by a local wind farm. Mousse even had an outdoor shower with a thick enclosure as his curse made a trip to the public onsen a nuisance for when he didn't feel like boiling water.

His mother had provided him with a basket of fresh meat and vegetables to tide him over until she could deliver a larger load by cart. Mousse pushed open the door and glanced around, it wasn't much, but it was home. The appliances were ancient but still worked and the place was dusty and needed a good cleaning. He pulled on some of his old clothes, noting that he would have to make some more soon as he'd almost outgrown them and scrubbed, dusted and swept every inch of the place. Anything to keep his mind off Ranma; he felt that he'd betrayed him and decided to send him a proper letter explaining his actions. Finally, after a simple meal, he fell asleep.

Mousse and Ranma had been making love all night long and were too sore to even attempt penetration anymore, six spent condoms and wrappers in the garbage pail beside the bed attested to this. Yet, Ranma still craved more. Mousse cradled her full bottom in his hands, lifting her hips towards his mouth. She still moaned and arched her hips as he ate her out thoroughly, leaving no part of her hypersensitive pussy untouched. She reveled in his dancing, talented tongue, wanting him to go as deeply as possible. Mousse smiled against her lips and began lashing her clit with all his might, until she came with a scream, bedewing his tongue with the delicate essence that was wholly Ranma. Mousse lapped up each last drop of her precious honey and lowered her back onto the bed. She cuddled against him, practically purring with contentment. "Umm, I should take a shower" she said.

"Would you like me to scrub your back?" he offered.

"Don't you start that again" she said with a giggle and went to shower. Mousse went downstairs to start breakfast, he admired Ranma's curvy figure draped only in a towel when she joined him. Water droplets still clung to her shoulders and her hair fell loose in damp waves. Then he realized what was strange about the situation; Ranma was still a woman. "Are we out of hot water?" he asked in confusion.

"Nope, I had a long hot shower. I just didn't change back" she explained nonchalantly.

"That's strange" Mousse said as he flipped the eggs "the only reasons for that, according to our research, are when you're doused by Herb's magic ladle or when you're preg..." Mousse said and dropped the spatula. "Ranma how? We've been using protection" he exclaimed.

"Except when the last condom broke" she said almost conversationally. "If you don't believe in having children out of wedlock, I suggest that we better get marry right away" she suggested.

"But what about waiting?" stammered Mousse.

"Talk to the condom about that" Ranma said in amusement.

"You're taking this awful well, what about your future as a martial artist?" Mousse asked.

"That'll still be there nine months from now. I'm actually happy about the situation, aren't you?" she asked.

"Of course I am. I'll marry you right away if you want" Mousse assured her, then made a face "your father's going to kill me" he stated.

She laughed in good humour "no kidding, you've made me the least manly guy on the planet" she said with a giggle.

Ranma

Ranma started laughing when he woke up; children now! Whoever was controlling the dreams was doing a very thorough job. He went to call Mousse, and then realized that he couldn't. He was in China! He wondered if they even had phones where Mousse was. Ranma left a note saying that he was going to China to see if the spring of the drowned man was back in business. It wasn't exactly a lie; he did intend to swing by there to check after he talked with Mousse. Then he silently let himself out of the Tendo house before anyone could stop him.

Ranma stood on the bank of the Sea of Japan just as the sun was rising; he took a cleansing breath and executed a perfect dive into its churning depth. He was a girl before she even fully hit the water. Ranma swam as hard as she could everyday, sometimes resting on unexpected islands, where she would fall into a dreamless sleep each time. This would make her sad because at least when she had the dreams, she had that connection to Mousse. Their separation was causing her more pain then she would admit. Sometimes while swimming towards a destination that she was starting to think that she would never reach, she would question why she was doing this. She used the memory of their only dinner alone together to spur her on, how they sat opposite each other at the table. How the soft light made Mousse's eyes sparkle and how they would soften as he laughed. It had felt natural to be there with him. How their hands would brush as they passed dishes of Mousse's delicious food between them, yet they did nothing to prevent them from brushing. They would just blush when this happened. How Mousse's accented voice sounded when he spoke. At the end of the evening Ranma would have died to hug him and kiss that sweet mouth again, he knew that it would have tasted of the oranges that they had had for desert, but had to settle for clasping Mousse's soft calloused hand. His parting smile had been so tender.

Mousse

Two male Amazons were fishing when they spotted the waterlogged, half dead girl. The first one exclaimed in Mandarin and ran into the waves to carry her to shore. As he carried her from the sea's embrace, she opened electric blue eyes and she softly moaned "Mousse" and then passed out again.

"What did she say?" he asked his friend.

"I think she was asking for Mu Tzu; it's hard to tell with her accent. I say we bring her to him and if he knows her, then she becomes that idiots problem" Ra Xar suggested.

"Good plan" agreed his friend and he helped Ra Xar carry Ranma to Mousse's hut.

Mousse had decided to prepare dinner ahead of time so that he could help his mother plant trees that day. He'd just finished preparing spicy beef in pepper jack sauce, when there was a knock at the door. He opened it to find Ra Xar holding a soaked redhead in his arms. Mousse was just about to ask what was going on when Ranma's face rolled back so he could see it better. "Ranma!" he exclaimed in shock.

"Ah you know her" Ra Xar said in triumph; Mousse intensely disliked Ra Xar.

Mousse's arms reached forward of their accord to take the petit girl from the disagreeable person before him. Ranma cuddled into him "Mousse!" she cried happily, but didn't awake.

Mousse blushed when Ra Xar smirked at him and said "what did YOU do in Japan? And here I thought that you didn't have eyes for anyone but your precious Shampoo?" he said facetiously.

Mousse answered him by closing the door in his inquisitive face, after he coldly thanked him. Mousse had no doubt that news of the mysterious female would spread throughout the village within the hour.

He paused when the window to the soul effect occurred again. He saw Ranma being taken from his mother as a baby, he saw him being bartered for anything that caught his irresponsible father's fancy. Ranma being forced to make adult decisions when he was barely old enough to talk. His father taunting him about anything that he considered to be girlish, from his taste in food to simply admiring a pretty flower when he was five. His father had ripped it apart in front of him while daring him to cry. Being forced to train every day of his life, meeting friends only to have to leave them behind. He saw that boy grow up stronger every day and more emotionally damaged. He hungered for so many things that should have been his right, love and acceptance from his parents, a stable home and simple friendship. That is what had created Ranma.

Ranma whimpered in his arms as she was assaulted with Mousse's memories. She saw a pretty young boy smiling at a purple haired young girl and falling in love with her. She saw that same little boy sitting on his father's knee as his father guided his tiny hands as he did an intricate embroidery design. She watched as his dark-haired parents exchanged a look of love and felt happy and safe. Then she saw him standing before his father's grave later that year, struggling not to cry as he didn't want to make his younger sisters feel worse; the youngest was only a few months old. She saw him being flogged and cried out in pain on his behalf. The scene changed as he grew up, she felt his despair when the optometrist his mother had saved up the money for, told him that he would most likely be blind by the time he was twenty. Then he was given the cheap, round glasses which were all that his mother could afford. She saw Mousse being ridiculed as a skinny bespectacled child, until he began train until his fingers bled and his muscles shook with fatigue by the end of each day. Him developing a muscular body and gaining in height, he wore his hair long to honour his father, yet still being mocked by all who knew him, including the girl he loved. Then she saw the male Ranma taunting him, belittling his training, mocking his style and lording the one thing that Mousse wanted, Shampoo, over him just because he could, even though Ranma knew that he never wanted her in his heart of hearts. Ranma started weeping from shame.

Mousse noticed her start to cry and held her close until she stopped, despite her being wet. He gathered his towels and placed them onto his futon and put her on top of them. Knowing how immodest Ranma was, he carefully undressed her and bathed her with tepid water, wanting to keep her as a girl for a little longer. He unbraided her hair and let it hang loose to dry and then wrapped his softest sleeping robe around her, smiling at how huge it was on her. He tucked her into his bed, letting her sleep.

He then set up his travel bedroll, Ranma may not have been a real girl, but there was no way that he was going to sleep beside a virgin girl without her permission, even if it was his place and his bed. Then he put on the tea and waited, knowing his family would be there immediately once news of a strange girl staying with Mousse reached them. His mother was hot for the idea of him being with anyone besides Shampoo; she should be over at any second with visions of grandchildren dancing in her head.


	7. Chapter 7

Mousse didn't have wait for too long, within minutes of the tea steeping to perfection, there was a knock on his door. He opened the door to a more mature feminine version of his own face, while three younger clone-like versions of the same woman hovered behind her. His mother was taller then Mousse and wore her hair parted in the middle and straight down her back, revealing a noble brow and black eyebrows like elegantly arched crows wings above her crystalline green eyes. She was thirty two but looked closer to twenty five, the elegant woman still had many men challenging her hand but refused all of them. Her love was only for her children and Mu Tzu worried her the most.

Mu Tao Lee didn't even bother asking for permission, but simply went into the next room to study the small female asleep on the bed. She felt a stab of lust, not for the prone female, but for her fire-bright hair. None of the Amazons had red hair and she imaged her grandchildren being the envy of all with this unique colour. They would be prized on the marriage market and guaranteed to make excellent matches to further the Mu family, which was already known for its unique beauty. Her own husband had been a distance cousin and by some whacky coincidence, had the same flawless porcelain skin, midnight black hair and green eyes as herself; it had been like making love to a masculine clone of herself. The girl was very short; this rather disappointed her, but as her son was tall. 'Perhaps this deficiency wouldn't show in their off spring?' she reasoned. She appeared to be well formed however and she looked athletic even in a bulky sleep robe and hidden beneath blankets. Her face was beautiful, more child then woman at this present stage of her life, her full lips were complimented by a cute little button nose and her eyelashes long, framed by the elegant sweep of her eyebrows, and then there was all that thick gorgeous wavy hair. 'She'll do' Mu Tao Lee thought, without once acknowledging her son standing silently at her side.

"Who is she?" she whispered, not wishing to wake the exhausted looking girl.

"She's Ranma Saotome" Mousse said, knowing full well that his mother had already assessed the supposed female as bridal material. Of course she would have accepted Ranma in a heartbeat; she would have probably gladly accepted a cross-eyed, hunchbacked girl with the face of a mule as daughter-in-law, rather then Shampoo.

Mu Tao Lee wrinkled her brow in confusion "Ranma? Isn't that the name of your enemy who stole Shampoo away from you?" she asked.

"Yes" Mousse said.

She turned her gaze back to the girl in her son's bed "Shampoo's gay now?" she asked.

Mousse tittered silently "no, Ranma's a man. He's Jusenkyo cursed like me; I become a duck and he becomes a girl" he explained.

Comprehension dawned on her, but she still didn't dismiss Ranma as a possible candidate for her son's hand. People who fell in the spring of the drowned young girl could still have children. Anyone was better then Shampoo! After all, everyone knew that people with purple hair were inherently stupid. "How did she come to be here?" she asked.

Mousse looked confused "I don't know, I left him in Japan and she turned up here" he said with a shrug. "She swam all the way, I don't know why" he said.

She was about to answer when Ranma frowned in her sleep and started searching the sheets for something "Mousse?" she said in a panicked tone of voice, indicating her distress at him missing. Mu Tao Lee watched in astonishment as her son clasped her hand to still it and stroked it until she relaxed in sleep, then carefully tucked her arm back under the covers. 'He's in love with her and he doesn't even realize it' Mu Tao Lee thought with the force of thunder. She smiled a secretive smile at the notion, it was perfectly normal for two men or two women to marry in their tribe and being Jusenkyo cursed wasn't uncommon. Some of the gay couples even chose for one of them to become a woman, by seeking out the spring of the drowned young girl, if they wanted to have children. Therefore, the idea of her son being in an unusual relationship didn't bother her. Mousse motioned for her to come into the other room with him and closed the door softly behind them. She was disappointed to see his bedroll set up. 'Was Ranma a virgin?' she questioned herself silently, she was pretty sure that Mu Tzu was still one.

"What do you intend to do with her?" she asked.

"Wait until she wakes up and find out what she wants. There's got to be some reason why she came to China" Mousse said in a mystified tone of voice.

Mu Tao Lee's smiled at him "I'm sure there is" she said simply, and then laughed when he leapt out of the way just in time to avoid his sister's chains. Gel was a martial arts buff like her brother, who was training to be an Amazon guard and with Mousse's old master concurrently.

"To slow" he declared, his fifteen year old sister was almost as tall as him and they could have been twins. She wore a matching white robe, like her brother and had affected the same long pageboy hairstyle that Mousse favoured. All of his sisters had their hair styled this way as imitation was the sincerest form of flattery.

His younger sister was Lipstick, she was thirteen and she was the girly one of the bunch, he'd attended many of her tea parties wearing silly flowered hats when they were both younger.

Finally there was Aftershave, she was eleven and had no filter on her mouth. She was blunt and plain spoken, to the point of embarrassment; like now.

Aftershave turned to see a confused looking Ranma hovering in the bedroom doorway and said "are you going to be my sister-in-law?"

Ranma had awoken to the sound of people talking softly and went to investigate. She honestly wasn't sure where she was. She hugged the large robe she wore to her; it was so huge on her that it trailed behind her and stepped cautiously into the light coming from the other room. All five people turned to look at her when the smallest female asked Ranma a question that she couldn't comprehend. Ranma recognized Mousse, but was overwhelmed by the look-alike females with him. "Mousse, where am I?" she asked him.

He took her hand and led her forward "this is my family" he explained, trying to sooth the confused girl. Ranma was introduced to his family and then Mousse's mother tactfully suggested that they leave, sensing that Mousse and Ranma needed to talk.

Ranma felt suddenly shy to be alone with Mousse, she watched as Mousse put some food on a plate and gestured for her to sit down with him. Swallowing nervously, she lowered herself onto the mat. She picked up her chopsticks and forced herself to eat in slow, measured bites for once, while serendipitously studying him. "This is good" she broke the silence with.

"What are you doing here Ranma?" Mousse asked her without preamble. "I doubt that you swam all the way here to compliment me on my cooking" he said turning his gaze upon her.

Ranma opened her mouth and then closed it again "I came because..." she started and almost finished it with 'I love you'. She did love him, she realized, that's why she was so hurt that he'd left without even saying goodbye. That's why she came here; she needed to be see him. She started again "I came because you didn't even say goodbye. How could you do that to me!" she raged.

Mousse looked surprised at her anger "I didn't intend to hurt you" he said. "What's happening between us is weird and I can't handle it" he admitted.

"Then you feel it too" Ranma said. Mousse nodded and refused to look at her. Ranma summoned all of her bravery and finally said out loud, her real feelings for the other boy "iloveyou" she muttered so fast that the words all slurred together and were barely decipherable. She gasped at the end, her fear of death over, she had said it and now there was no going back!

Her faced turned almost the colour of her hair when Mousse said "what?"

"I-I love you" she stammered and then threw herself on his lap and kissed him before he could object. Mousse gasped and then held her at arms length.

"Ranma" he said in a strangled voice. "I'm not gay!"

"Mousse I'm a woman right now. Don't you think I'm pretty?" she asked and pushed the robe off herself and stood naked and trembling before Mousse. "I don't know if it makes me gay that I love you, but I do. Does this look like a man's body to you?" she asked almost desperately, trying to make Mousse look at her. Reluctantly he turned his head and let his gaze caress her beautiful, curvy body. He took a deep breath; he could feel his body responding to her nakedness and looked away.

"Ranma I care for you too, but I can't get involved with you this way" he said. Ranma went behind him and started boldly unfastening the back of his robe. "W-what are you doing?" he asked when her fingers slipped inside to trace the knobs of his spine.

"Mousse, those dreams must mean something, they seemed so real. We owe it to ourselves to find out. Make love to me" she whispered against his ear, causing his hard cock to jump and his breath to hitch.

"But Shampoo" he said in despair.

Ranma kissed him lightly on the lips "she isn't here and won't ever need to know. I'm here and I'm the girl who loves you, take me" she requested. This time Mousse kissed her back like a man starving and clutched her to him. Ranma sighed as his warm hand caressed her body and mewed when he started lightly pinching her nipples.

Mousse couldn't get enough of touching her, she felt even better then in their shared dreams. Leaning over he suckled on her nipples, wishing he could eat her whole. He scooped her up and carried her to his futon. She was barely even on the futon itself before his mouth was buried in her sweet sex, he almost moaned a loud at how good she tasted. It was impossible to convince himself that she wasn't a woman when he did this to her! He hungrily explored the hot interior of her pussy while his hands roved over her glorious curves, she was moaning and heaving beneath him and he'd barely even started. Finding her clit now swollen and defenseless, he sucked the whole tender bud into his mouth and flicked it unmercifully with the very point of his tongue. Ranma panted as her pleasure mounted and years of sexual self denial exploded as she came furiously into Mousse's busy mouth for fifteen long seconds. Mousse lapped up every drop of her copious spending and lay down beside her, still fully clothed. "Ranma" he said positive that she didn't want to continue, she was a virgin after all. He gasped in surprise when she latched her mouth hungrily onto his and started clawing at his clothes, wild for him to be inside her. Mousse helped her removed the few obstacles between them and was rather shocked when she clamoured on top him like a monkey. She positioned him at her entrance, determination on her face.

"Wait, its going to hurt" he protested and gasped when she suddenly lunged down and he tore through her barrier, to impale herself fully on him. Ranma gasped in pain at first and then held still in indecision, as to whether to continue or not. She started moving with determination, desperate to experience the pleasure she had in the dreams. She moaned when the pain was gone and all she felt was waves of pleasure. She reveled in every sharp gasp that Mousse made as she rode him and every time he whispered her name. She echoed it back, whimpering his own name, her head flung back as her first orgasm shook her. He reached up to caress her face and she cheekily nipped his finger and then moaned when he captured the heavy weight of her breasts in his hands. He bucked up against her, driving himself deeper into her silken sheath, his breath ragged as he approached his own climax. He flipped them over and started pounding himself into her perfect body; she was so tight and fit him so well it was like she was designed for him. Her small calloused hands gripped onto his shoulders and she stiffened and then cried out as she came again. Her wild pulsations drew him into her orgasm and he shot deep inside her with a heavy groan. Ranma giggled slightly as she came off her sex high and idly played with her lover's hair. Mousse hadn't been exactly like her dream lover, his inexperience had shown but for Ranma, that she was also his first made it better then the dreams. She hadn't known that sex was so amazing! She got confused when Mousse drew sharply away from her.

Mousse realized the horrible mistake that he'd just made, now he had nothing to offer Shampoo, his first kiss and his virginity were gone. Lost to his enemy, Ranma! Blushing, he quickly dressed.

"Mousse?" Ranma questioned in a hurt tone of voice "did I do something wrong?" she asked.

He looked at her "no I did, this shouldn't have happened. You're not whom I'm meant to be with"

She wrapped the sheet around herself and stood up "it's about Shampoo again isn't it? What's so special about her, is she prettier then me? Smarter then me? Mousse, I'm the one who loves you" she said in a pleading tone.

"You're a guy Ranma" he said. "Or have you forgotten that fact? Even if I wasn't intended for Shampoo, I could never be with you" he said harshly.

"We can work on that. We could live here; they're much more accepting of couples like us. I could live as a woman" she offered.

"You hate being a woman; you think that this would make you happy? Living a lie in place where the hierarchy goes women first, then men. It's a stupid idea" he stated coldly.

"Don't you love me?" Ranma asked in a quiet, pain filled voice.

Mousse laughed humourlessly "love you, are you crazy? I love Shampoo in case you've forgotten. If she will have me after I soiled myself with you. I gave you my first kiss, my virginity and now you demand my heart too! It's never been yours" he said in a mocking tone of voice. Mousse expected Ranma to yell at him, to hit him, to tell him to go fuck himself; but he never expected her to burst into tears. It was too much for her to handle; travelling all this way, her happiness in being reunited with her beloved and finally making love with him. All for nothing!

Mousse started forward, "Ranma" he said. Then stopped, when he realized that the area where the sheet pressed against her groin showed patches of red. She was still bleeding because he'd torn her hymen, Ranma really had been a virgin and he'd taken that from her.

"Stay back" she sobbed.

"You're bleeding, Ranma, we'll get you cleaned up and then we can talk" Mousse said, starting towards her again.

Ranma turned and ran towards the door, just needing to get away from him. She ran into someone and hugged them back when they held her. It was Mousse's mother coming to bring them more food for the next day. She set down her basket and held the sobbing girl like she was another one of her daughters. She quickly appraised the situation, the area where Ranma was bleeding, her naked son hiding himself with his hastily bundled up clothes and their disheveled appearances. "What happened here?" she asked calmly, causing both people to turn tomato red.

"Mousse doesn't love me" the girl sobbed against her in a shaky voice.

"It's okay dear, why don't you go get cleaned up and you can come stay with me tonight?" she gently suggested to the distraught redhead. "I need to talk to my son" she said, thinning her lips at him. Ranma tearfully agreed and she went to use his bathroom. When she was gone, Mu Tao Lee demanded "how could you have done that to her?"

"Ranma's a guy" he pointed out.

"She's someone who loved you and trusted you enough to give herself to you for her first time and you probably threw it back in her face because she wasn't Shampoo" she hissed.

"I love Shampoo" he said stubbornly.

'I think you're infatuated with her and nothing else. You love someone else much more, but are too stupid to realize it because you don't know what love actually is" she said, hoping he would realize the truth before he damaged his relationship with Ranma irreparably.

"I can't be in love with him!" he said.

"Mousse have I taught you nothing, love isn't about race or gender. It's about finding someone who's right for you. So Ranma's technically a male, so what? You could make it work, she could be your wife and he your best friend, all rolled into one person. It doesn't really make you gay and even if it did, so what? You can still have the children you want and have someone wonderful in your life. All you have to do is get over this stupid obsession of yours and tell Ranma that you love her before it's too late" she said persuasively.

"I've made up my mind a long time ago and its Shampoo I want" he snapped.

His mother looked at him in sympathy "then I'm sorry for you my son. Very well, you've made your choice even if it's the wrong one. I hope you can find some measure of happiness" she said. Ranma silently rejoined her; she'd dressed and rebraided her hair. Mu Tao Lee turned to her "are you ready? Come, you can sleep with my daughters tonight, but no watching them undress" she joked, getting a wane smile from the girl.

"Bye Mousse, I'm sorry that I bothered you" she said faintly and followed his mother out of the hut. Mousse watched her go with a heavy heart, he felt like he'd made the worst choice ever. 'What was Ranma to him' he asked himself as he paced, until a spindle of brightly coloured thread hit the back of his head.

"Mousse, you can be such an asshole!" cried an outraged female voice.

Mousse turned around slowly and was now convinced that he had to be dreaming and he hadn't taken Ranma's virginity and spurned her and his mother didn't think him to be a user of women.

In the middle of his hut were three women wearing white robes that looked to be the dress of ancient Rome or Greece. One was a sexy young woman, one a middle aged woman and the last an elderly woman, yet on closer examination, they all seemed to be the same woman at different stages of her life. Beside them on the floor was what appeared to be an ancient loom and the equipment required for weaving.

Mousse could only stare at them and laugh nervously while praying to wake up. They stared back at him with murder in their eyes.


	8. Chapter 8

Actually, I have read that book, but just was doing it from Mythology rather then SF. I do own the entire immortals series. My favourite is On a Pale Horse, I love that this inspired Dead Like Me! I always laugh when Zane shoots Death; it's just so zany that in order to become death you have to shoot your predecessor. Okay, Sid is through geeking now. Careful girl you're weird enough as it is ;)

******

Mousse could only stare at the odd trio and then finally said "Who are you?" Still convinced that he was dreaming, he expected birdsong to emerge from their mouths when they opened them, rather then human voice.

Instead the youngest one said to him indignantly "Mousse are you crazy? How could you have done that to the person that we, The Fates, intended for you?"

"T-the fates" he stammered.

"Yes, we were once known as the Moirae, but are more commonly known as the three aspects of Fate. I am Clotho; it's my job to spin the thread of life. This is Lachesis" Clotho said indicating to the middle aged woman "She measures the thread for me to weave and this is Atropos, she cuts the thread at the death of the person whose thread I weave" Clotho explained.

"What do you want with me?" Mousse asked.

"We want you to stop ignoring the dreams that we sent to you and realize who your true love is actually meant to be" Lachesis said.

"Yes, you were horrible to Ranma!" Clotho cried indignantly.

"Those dreams were from you? But why should you be so concerned about me?" Mousse asked.

Athopos rolled her eyes "blame her" she said indicating Clotho "we moirae are supposed to be impartial about human beings in general, but she chooses favourites all the time and you are one of hers"

"I'm favoured by fate?" Mousse said in a dubious voice.

"By one aspect" Lachesis corrected him, "she does kind of owe you for Shampoo, you were never meant to fall in love with her. You might say that she had a spell of drunken weaving"

Clotho blushed and muttered "I had one cocktail too many at a bacchanal orgy and things got a bit tangled up" she explained.

Mousse could only look in horror at this statement "but what do you mean that I was never meant to fall in love with Shampoo? She's going to be my wife" he said.

Clotho looked embarrassed "no, you are intended to be the husband of Ranma Saotome, that's why she was doused in the spring of the drowned young girl" she explained. "We sent the dreams to show you what your relationship is going to be like"

"Then why did you have to make them so sexy?" Mousse inquired, feeling like his head was about to fly off.

The rest looked at Clotho "I thought teenaged boys liked sex" she said with a shrug. "Mousse you have to forget Shampoo and make things right with Ranma" she implored him.

"I don't want Ranma, he's a guy" Mousse pointed out to them.

"Yes you do, you're bisexual as far both his forms are concerned" she explained.

"I've never been attracted to guys in the past!" he protested.

"Well you are now, well one of them that is" corrected Atropos. "He's your intended and you best realize that before its too late and you marry Shampoo" she said.

"So I will marry Shampoo" he said triumphantly.

"Yes you could and lets show you what will happen" Lachesis said and measured out three threads, one purple, one white and one red. She indicated towards the purple one "this is Shampoo, the red one is Ranma and the white is you" she explained. These she handed to Clotho, who seemed to weave them into an invisible tapestry in the air. Mousse's jaw fell open when the red and white and the purple and white wound around each other concurrently. The red and white seemed to stretch on forever and other coloured threads were added and spread throughout the invisible tapestry. The white and purple wound around each other until Atropos stepped forward and snipped off the white thread decisively. Mousse looked questioningly at her.

"You will marry Shampoo when you are thirty, she will only agree when she's desperate enough after Ranma marries Akane. You will have sex with your lovely wife three times in your two months of marriage and she will cry out 'Ranma' every time she orgasms. Then she will poison you after Ranma gets divorced, in hopes that he will marry her and she'll get away with it. He won't marry her because soon after, Ranma comes out of the closet" she explained. "With Ranma, you will live a long and happy life. Those other threads represent your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren etc."

"Ranma's gay?" Mousse asked.

Clotho rolled her eyes at him "he has four gorgeous fiancées and shows no interest in any of them. Are you really that surprised?" she asked.

Mousse thought about Ranma and said "no"

"He loves you Mousse and you love him. Wouldn't you rather a life of bliss to a sexually frustrating marriage and an early death?" Clotho asked him softly.

"She really doesn't love me?" Mousse said sadly.

"No, but Ranma does" Clotho said "Think about making love with her just now and realize whose in your heart before its too late" she advised him, she kissed him on the forehead and then they vanished.

Mousse sat down and thought about Ranma and realized that he did love Mousse. All of the signs had been there, how Ranma kept seeking him out, the pleasure he seemed to take in his company, the way that he looked at him, the accidental kiss that had electrified them both. It had electrified Mousse, he had really enjoyed it. He'd been running away from the feelings that he'd developed for the other boy. He thought about never seeing him again. Or returning to Nerima and watching Ranma marry Akane to live a lie. He then thought about having to wait fourteen long, sexless years to marry the person he thought he loved, only be killed by her soon after. Mousse closed his eyes and tried to picture her face, but all he could see was Ranma as the petit redhead and as the gorgeous brunette. He imagined not being able to touch them again, not being able to kiss them and never making love to them again. He felt such pain that he started to weep, Mousse's eyes snapped open and he realized what a mistake he'd made. He didn't love Shampoo; he loved Ranma.

Ranma

Ranma's eyes were swollen from crying and the itchy irritating feeling kept her awake. That she shared a bed with Mousse's twin-like sister, Gel didn't help. Softly she got up and pulled on her clothes, she exited the house. She went to a nearby field and started doing katas. Training always helped her relax and she needed all the help that she could get right now. She wasn't too surprised when Gel joined her. With unspoken acceptance, they began sparring. Gel in her lookalike robe and with her brother's features, Ranma felt herself lashing out at the girl in her anger. Yet Gel would just spring out of the way harmlessly until Ranma calmed down and both were covered with sweat. They trained to the point of exhaustion and both finally gave up, they were well matched skill wise and had reached an impasse. "You're really good" Ranma commented.

"So are you" Gel replied.

"Good thing I didn't defeat you, I couldn't stand having another Amazon fiancée" Ranma commented.

"You don't have to worry, I already have one" Gel replied.

"Really, what's he like?" Ranma asked curious.

Gel smiled mischievously "long brown hair, legs that won't quit, large boobs and a mouth made for kissing" she replied.

"Oh you're gay" Ranma commented.

"Yes, aren't you? After all, you're in love with my brother" She pointed out.

Ranma cocked her head "I've never really thought about it" she admitted.

"How do you feel when you kiss a girl?" she asked.

"I've never kissed one before" Ranma said with a blush.

"You could kiss me if you like" Gel offered.

"I don't know if I should, what about your fiancée?" Ranma asked.

"Shoot, she'll understand when I tell her that you're a guy" Gel explained.

Ranma bent forward and placed her lips against Gel's, she kissed a lot like her brother. Her lips were soft and full and her movements slow and gentle with just the right amount of teasing tongue. Yet Ranma didn't feel a thing, no spark. Not how it was with Mousse.

Gel pulled back "anything?" she asked.

"Not a thing, I think I'm gay" Ranma said with dawning comprehension, it explained his lack of lust when it came to his fiancées. He found their forced attention repulsive.

"Welcome to the club" Gel said. "What are you going to do now?" she asked.

"I guess I'm going to go home and marry whomever I'm forced to" Ranma said ironically.

"It won't make you happy" Gel pointed out. "Or her for that matter"

"I don't think I'll ever be happy again" Ranma said mournfully and allowed herself to be drawn into the hug of a stranger, so far from home.

Mousse

Mousse didn't sleep that night, so the morning found him still sitting in the same chair with dark circle under his eyes. His mother knocked on the door. "Mousse, I bought a plane ticket for Ranma so that he could go home. He came to say goodbye" she called.

Ranma walked in, nervousness was cast over his handsome, boyish features. Mousse thought that he looked adorable. "Mousse, I just came to tell you that I'll leave you alone from now on. You can come home when you're ready. I'm going to tell Shampoo that I want nothing to do with her to clear your way. Bye Mousse" Ranma said and turned to leave.

Mousse stopped him "is that how you really feel?" he asked him.

Ranma refused to look at him "its the right thing to do. I want you to be happy" he replied and exited the hut without another word. Mousse ran after him.

"If you want me to be happy, then you better listen up" he said to the confused looking boy and then kissed him deeply and hungrily right in front of the entire village, Ranma blushed but let himself be kissed. Mousse was breathing funny, but rushed ahead with "I love you Ranma" he declared and then noticed Ra Xar starring at them, dumbstruck to see Mousse kissing another man and didn't care in the least.

"Mousse, you really do?" Ranma asked, naked emotion on his face. "But do you love both of my forms?" he asked hesitantly.

Mousse pressed against him, proof of his desire poking Ranma in the stomach. "What does that tell you?" he whispered to him. "If you come back to the hut with me, I'll prove it to you" Ranma blushed and nodded. They both excused themselves and Mousse's mother just smiled and walked back to her farm, glad that the ticket she bought was fully refundable.

Mousse was all over Ranma the second the door was shut, he couldn't get enough of touching him and tasting him, he practically tore the Chinese clothing from the delighted boy, revealing his well defined form. Within seconds Mousse was naked too and wrestled Ranma onto the futon. "Are you ready to try this?" he asked him.

"Yes, I want you" Ranma panted and heaved his body up towards Mousse, he was rockhard. He whimpered when Mousse wrapped his hand around Ranma's thick, throbbing cock and gave him a squeeze.

"Now just calm down" Mousse advised and leaned down and took Ranma in his mouth. He experimentally sucked it and wrapped his hand around the remainder, moving it in tandem with his mouth. Ranma moaned heavily, his head rolling back and forth in ecstasy as he fisted Mousse's long hair. Until he shot deep inside his lover's mouth. Mousse leaned up and kissed him, he was well pleased that Ranma was tasty in either form.

"Oh my god, I don't know which feels better: sex as a male or sex as a female" Ranma declared as he cuddled against Mousse.

"Well, we'll have plenty of time to decide that. I fully intend to make many opportunities for you to properly find out" Mousse said.

"So now what?" Ranma asked.

"We'll stay here and do lots of this, until we decide whether we're going to marry with you as a man or a woman?" Mousse mused.

"You want to marry me?" Ranma asked, feeling suddenly shy.

"That's what people in love normally do" Mousse replied. "Besides where else am I going to find someone who is both the loves of my life at the same time?" he said smiling at Ranma tenderly.

"So you don't think I'm weird?" Ranma asked.

"No more so then usual" Mousse replied and laughed when Ranma threatened to throttle him.

Flash Forward

Ranma held her husband's hand as they went into the Tendo dojo, where all those that they had invited were in attendance. She took a cleansing breath and straightened her maternity top; she was huge for five months. She would have felt unattractive if her demanding husband didn't make her feel like a sex goddess every morning and every night. They'd just arrived in Nerima that evening, after six months absence and planned to tell everyone about them that night. "You ready for this?" she asked nervously.

Mousse squeezed her hand reassuringly "anytime you are darling" he replied.

She opened the door and stepped inside. Someone gasped at her obvious pregnant belly. Ranma smiled at those assembled and said. "I'm glad you all could make it. I assume everyone knows my husband, Mu Tzu?"

End Flash Forward


End file.
